


Somebody Special

by onotherflights



Category: The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue Series - Mackenzi Lee
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, M/M, Multi, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 08:17:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14588847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onotherflights/pseuds/onotherflights
Summary: Sometimes, Percy forgot how he felt. There were fleeting moments in his day when other things occupied his mind, and he was blissfully unaware of the pain he’d submitted himself to.Then, like a sunbeam, he would show up again. He would smile and crack a joke, call Percy his “best friend”, and he was right back to the beginning. Being in love with Henry Montague was the beginning and the end of everything.





	Somebody Special

**Author's Note:**

> Another fandom, yikes. 
> 
> I really wanted to write for this fandom and I've been so happy working on this after all my usual angst lol. I also wanted to play around quite a bit with canon, so you'll notice many nods to it throughout. Also, this is from Percy's POV. Just had to get in that guy's beautiful head. Enjoy!

Sometimes, Percy forgot how he felt. There were fleeting moments in his day when other things occupied his mind, and he was blissfully unaware of the pain he’d submitted himself to. 

Then, like a sunbeam, he would show up again. He would smile and crack a joke, call Percy his “best friend”, and he was right back to the beginning. Being in love with Henry Montague was the beginning and the end of everything. 

He wasn’t the only one. It was no secret that Henry Montague was popular. He was the homecoming king, lead photographer of the school’s magazine, Romeo in their school’s last Spring play, and he was dating a cheerleader. He also was completely unaware that his best friend had been in love with him for three years. 

This morning, it happened early. It was a Monday, after all. It was a strange feeling, to want to avoid the butterflies for as long as possible but also find comfort in that familiar swoop. When he had first recognized that his crush on Monty was a bit more than just really,  _ really _ wanting to be his best friend, the butterflies in his stomach had made their home. 

Every Monday morning, the two of them met up before school at Dunkin Donuts for breakfast and to-go coffee. It was a good way to start their week, being senior year they only had one class together and thankfully the same lunch. While Percy was on a full load of AP and dual courses, he only saw Monty for dual credit British Literature. 

Monty had gotten there first that morning, and Percy took a moment to creep before he approached. He really couldn’t be blamed when his best friend was so gorgeous. Monty looked relaxed and carefree, as most boys who went to Montague Academy did, but especially the headmaster’s son. Not that Monty ever talked about that, but everyone treated him as such whether he recognized it or not. 

He sat with his blazer on the back of his chair and his tie loosened, a copy of  _ The Picture of Dorian Gray _ in his hands. Percy had to make his heart calm down before he proceeded. The butterflies still beat their wings, as the sun shone and the grass was green. Just another Monday.

As he approached the table and Monty became aware of him, he looked up with that signature grin, holding up the book cover. 

“Can you believe this homoerotic material made it onto our reading list?” 

Percy chuckled, sitting down across from his friend and stealing a fresh blueberry from his fruit cup. 

“You should protest,” he joked, “for the good of the children.” 

“Fucking  _ children _ ,” Monty rolled his eyes, sneering. “The little goblin started daycare today, I had to drop him off. That’s why I got here early.” 

He said it with annoyance, but Percy had a sneaking suspicion that Monty was secretly fond of his baby brother. Percy could remember that when Elias was born, his mom had forced him to bring over food for the family. He didn’t have the heart to tell her that Monty’s family had a personal chef, and he wanted an excuse to see his friend. He’d gone over and abandoned the casserole in the kitchen, the whole house so quiet it seemed empty. Until he heard the singing. He peered inside the nursery and indulged in watching that exuberant boy on his knees in front of the crib, his fingers poking through the bars so that a tiny newborn fist could wrap around them. Monty was singing to him, the sunlight catching his smile. Percy thought in that moment, leaning against the doorframe with warm cheeks, that maybe he wanted something more than friendship.

That had been three years ago. Not much had changed, except for Elias’ height and mobility.

 

They talked of that, and of the general important school updates (i.e. needless gossip about peers). When they were done eating, they went back to the counter to grab coffee. They each got two, and Percy bit his tongue. He knew what was about to happen. 

He had all of five minutes left with Monty before it was over, before he had to stop pretending that this was all there ever was between them and nothing could come between them. Something already  _ was _ between them.

“So, Jamie’s party on Friday, are we still angry with her?” He asked, because that is how things went. Percy would only go to a party if Monty was going, and the only reason Monty didn’t go was if he was mad at someone. Jamie was the stage director in theatre, and she’d made Monty’s life a living hell when he was Spring lead, according to him. 

“Hmm,” Monty mused, sipping at his cold brew, “Perhaps we can overlook past discretions, since she helped me with the chemistry test a few weeks back.” 

Percy nodded, “I could have helped you, you know.” 

It was out before he could stop it, and Monty looked at him skeptically. They weren’t even in the same class, Percy was in AP physics. 

Before he could reply, time was up. They saw the pair of girls waiting at the stop sign across the street. They continued walking towards them, and it was only a matter of physically getting to each other before the reaction began. 

“Iced chai for my lady,” He greeted her as she threw her arms around his neck. Percy didn’t look back to watch them kiss, not so early in the morning, but he could feel that Monty had stopped walking beside him and put all of his attention on her. 

“Let’s lose them,” Felicity muttered under her breath as she took the peppermint mocha he’d brought her, throwing Percy a thankful smile. Monty’s sister wore a matching uniform to them, only with a skirt instead of pants. She had her brother’s same light brown hair with touches of blonde in the sunlight, only hers was half-shaved, the undercut showing whenever she had her hair up in a top knot like she did that morning. On her blazer’s lapel she had a series of pins, include an ace in black, gray, white and purple stripes. ‘Don’t ruin my acethetic’ it read. 

They walked ahead towards the school’s front gates, passing parked BMW’s the closer they got. Talking to Fliss was great, even though she was only a sophomore she was in senior science club with Percy, so they were almost as close as he was with Monty. Except for the being in unrequited love part. 

  
  


Percy and Monty might have never met. If it weren’t for his aunt and uncle gifting him with a yearly scholarship, there was no way his parents would be able to afford the tuition for Montague Academy. As much as Monty himself griped about it, the academy was a dream come true for Percy. The education and resources he had access to were incomparable to what he would have gotten if he’d gone to the public school in his neighborhood. That was one of the reasons Percy took his grades so seriously, because he needed them to get into a good college. Only, he wanted the best college. 

One word. Nine Letters. 

_ Juilliard.  _

Maybe it was foolish to pin all of his hopes and dreams to one chance, but Percy had gotten used to that. Still, if he got into any good school, he could leave. Maybe then it would be easier to fall for someone he could actually have. Or other important things, like a career or a house or whatever. 

It wasn’t like he counted down the seconds until he saw Monty again, but all high school kids watched the clock in the class before lunch. As soon as the chimes sounded overhead (it was better than a shrill alarm bell, at least) Percy launched out of his seat and joined the navy-blue clad crowd in the hallway as they moved in a wave towards the lunch hall. 

Like all class establishments, there were invisibly reserved tables in the cafeteria. Percy and his group sat at the same table by the window each day, it had been that way each and every year. Even when they came back in ten years, twenty, for a class reunion, they would sit in the same spot probably. 

The space filled with chatting teenagers, and soon enough the rest of the crew had joined the table. Felicity sat to his left, and Monty across from him. Percy caught himself staring at his lips as they talked again, but the arrival of a familiar brand of perfume caused him to look away. 

Monty’s girlfriend always wore a French perfume that shared her name, Gabrielle. Monty just called her Elle, and bought her a new bottle every year for her birthday. At the sight of her flicking her perfectly straight and long strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder, Monty reached to rub the back of his neck. He could feel the course, tight curls there. He was a fool to think Monty would ever see him as anything other than a friend, when he had someone like her. 

Of course, it hadn’t always been that way. There had been people before Elle, and surely there would be people after. Monty was a shameless flirt, joking that he had to be doubly so to make up for his sister. No one else thought that joke was funny. 

Sometimes, Percy liked to torture himself. He would let his eyes linger on the way Monty gave affection to those he was involved with, the way he would stroke their arm as they talked, the way he kissed like it was as easy to him as air. 

Percy had never been kissed. 

It was one of the many things that pissed him off. Montague Academy, for all its merits, was not the most diverse of schools. There were only two black kids in the school, the other one being a very sweet and quiet junior girl that he’d talked to all of four times. However, several people had told him that they had a lot in common and should  _ totally _ date. 

They had almost nothing in common, and Percy was very much gay. That alone seemed to defy understanding somehow. 

To be fair, Percy knew that if he really wanted those things, he could seek them out. Only he didn’t want to look any further, he still imagined what it would feel like if Monty ever looked at him as more than a best friend. He watched the way that Monty kissed  _ her _ , and he could never quite picture himself in her place. She deserved someone as wonderfully frustrating as Monty, and as for what Percy deserved? 

He wasn’t so sure he deserved anything. 

He had never been that ‘special someone’ that everyone around him seemed to have. He had never been a plus one, or the soft voice on the other end of a late night phone call. 

Then again, he thought that if it wasn’t with Monty, he didn’t want it with anyone else. 

Maybe he wasn’t Monty’s somebody special, and maybe he never would be. 

But Monty would always be his, whether he ever knew it or not.

 


End file.
